Public Access to NIST Research

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NIST is committed to the idea that results of federally funded research are a valuable national resource and a strategic asset. To the extent feasible and consistent with law, agency mission, resource constraints, and U.S. national, homeland, and economic security, NIST will promote the deposit of scientific data arising from unclassified research and programs, funded wholly or in part by NIST, except for Standard Reference Data, free of charge in publicly accessible databases. Subject to the same conditions and constraints listed above, NIST also intends to make freely available to the public, in publicly accessible repositories, all peer-reviewed scholarly publications arising from unclassified research and programs funded wholly or in part by NIST.

NIST has established an embargo period of no more than 12 months post-publication for making peer-reviewed publications freely available through NIST’s repository on PMC. Stakeholders may petition NIST’s Open Access Officer to change the embargo period in the following year for publications in a specified scientific field. A petition must demonstrate that the existing embargo period for certain fields of scientific research does not provide a public benefit and is inconsistent with the objectives articulated in the OSTP Memo. When considering changes to the embargo period, NIST will consult with other agencies that fund related areas of scientific research.

NIST-Funded Extramural Research

Non-NIST recipients of NIST funds ("awardees") for the conduct of scientific research must meet the public access requirements for scientific research data and publications described in the Special Award Conditions of their funding agreements. NIST Federal Program Officers (FPOs) associated with the funding agreements must meet requirements described in NIST directives above. Instructions provided below explain the process for FPOs and awardees to follow when depositing data in NIST's repository in PMC.